The estate of J. R. R. Tolkien has filed an eighty million dollar lawsuit against Warner; NPR looks at difficulties of making "unfilmable" books into good movies; Jason Diamond considers what Philip Roth's retirement means for Jewish fiction; and other news.

A technology company intends to create a Spotify-like service for books; David Letterman's production company Worldwide Pants has purchased film rights to Jonathan Evison's The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving; Alexander Chee lists twenty-one lies writers tell themselves; and other news.

Should an author simply count herself lucky to have landed a book deal, or should she fight for what she wants during the various stages of publishing it—the editing process, cover design, and promotion? Before deciding, it's important to understand what obstacles might stand in the way before encountering them and what to expect from all the effort.